if this isn't love
by AshleyDaughterofApollo
Summary: "They are killing each other with words," Rita deadpanned. Silena shrugged, but smiled nonetheless. "They're flirting." In which, Silena helps a new Aphrodite camper learn Percabeth. REPOST


**If This Isn't Love**

 **(A Percy Jackson Fanfiction)**

 **By Ashley Fields**

When she had first got to Camp Half-Blood, the only thing running through her head was, _Holy crap, the dude is a fucking donkey_. But then Oakley bleated and corrected her, "Satyr! Not a donkey. If only you newbies were educated—"

After being chased by this large dog thing, taking a slide in mud, and watching the male Dorm Advisor pull his pants down to reveal almighty furriness and drag her to Long Island from Staten Island, she felt like she didn't need to care for anything at the moment besides her life.

She ignored Oakley as he led her down the large hill after being welcomed by a large pine tree. Once she walked past it, she was overwhelmed with the sensation of safety…and home.

The camp was beautiful. Beyond a large arch that read Camp Half-Blood—she could read clearly in spite of her dyslexia—and it was full of people she deemed between the age of eight to nineteen, and full of different ethnicities. From the hill, Oakley began pointing out spots like a tour guide, as he led her to the large Blue house at the bottom.

The Camp had usual camp activities and such. It was a Camp after all. The volleyball and basketball courts, the amphitheater, pavilion, the lakes and beaches and small rivers, the twelve large Cabins that stood tall and proud, representing a different Greek God. She thought was cool.

"So, let me get this straight," she spoke to the pudgy man in the loud Hawaiian shirt, who was apparently Dionysus, the God of Wine, but the campers called him Mr. D. "You're telling me that my dad hooked up with some goddess, and had me? That sounds like a load of bull—"

"Rihanna—"

"It's Rita!" She corrected him.

A kinder man named Chiron in a wheelchair rolled up beside the man who claimed to be Mr. D. "My dear, I had hoped the orientation film would have helped but—"

"No," she interrupted. "I understand very well. You say the Greek Gods are still around civilization and stuff, and I'm a half-blood who needs to stay here and train to survive and stuff. Okay, I just need to process this."

She waited a couple of seconds and Chiron waited patiently. Mr. D belched out loud and sipped more wine. Oakley ran a hand down his face.

A ding practically went off in her head. She spoke unusually calmly. "Okay, I'm good. So who's my mom then?"

Her dad had told her that her mother was a Victoria's Secret model. She of course thought he had made it up to impress his friends, but the way her dad spoke of him so highly, she believed him. Back when he was a wanted photographer, he had met her at a photo shoot and the rest was history.

Mr. D coughed. "That can't be determined until you are claimed. For now you'll stay in the Hermes cabin. Oakland—"

"Oakley sir." Oakley chimed.

"—Can show you around. Now get out my face."

Rita had never felt more offended than she did in that moment. She turned to Oakley, "What does claiming mean?"

She understood what claiming meant about three weeks later. During dinner in the pavilion, a large, glowing, holographic dove floated above her head and then disappeared. Everyone had stopped eating and kneeled for her as Chiron announced, "All hail, Rita Davidson, daughter of Aphrodite, lady of doves, goddess of love."

She didn't make friends in those three weeks, despite having what she thought a likeable and big personality she was practically a wallflower. It's not like she felt out of place. Far from it actually.

There were different personalities and people all over. The Ares kids were very aggressive and trained a lot, and she avoided them at all costs. The Hermes kids had pranked her five times already, and she found out that that was kind of depressing for them, since no one has really ever been in a mood for it. The one Dionysus kid drank all the time—what she hoped wasn't really wine—in mourning of his brother; he offered her some but she declined. The Hephaestus bunch were always either building or testing weapons and traps. The Apollo Cabin made bullseye after bullseye at the targets. The Aphrodite kids were always around the pegasi and making deadly perfume; yeah, they can do that. The Athena kids practically ran the Camp, making sure everything was in order and practicing battle strategies. The Demeter Cabin practiced with the nature spirits in making poisoned herbs and plants. The Poseidon Cabin, or the one guy in it, Rita hasn't seen much of.

Everyone seemed to be preparing for a war of some sort against a Titan, Kronos, and the idea scared Rita. She had just gotten there and she was already being sent off die. There was no time to get comfortable and make friends since everyone was so busy. But after she was claimed at dinner one night, she was suddenly whisked out of the Hermes Cabin and straight into the Aphrodite Cabin.

She would never have guessed the goddess of love was her mother. She was well rounded in activities at camp. She was good at Art, could at least hold a sword correctly, made a couple of bullseye's when shooting arrows, she kept up with the tree spirits that raced everyone, and was an okay swimmer. She could have been anyone's child.

When she had met most children of each God, they'd give her a once over and say "Maybe" so naturally, as if her looks could decide who she was. She didn't think she was pretty enough to be an Aphrodite kid. She didn't think her dark chocolate skin and frizzy, nappy hair was pretty. She felt too plain.

Silena Beareguard, the head counselor of the Aphrodite Cabin, and her new "sister", disagreed.

"I can't believe I didn't see it sooner! You are totally my sister, Rita! And you're so pretty!" She had never been complimented so much before. Even after she was claimed, guys looked at her like she was Tyra Banks.

"Um, thanks."

Silena was pretty popular in the Camp. She was the type that everyone said hi to and she was everything Rita had wanted to be. Her inherited beauty was present. Her long black hair wasn't straight down her back and glossy. Her eyes were a brilliant shade of blue and they were enhanced with her black mascara. Her skin was blemish free and milky. Silena seemed like the type to not notice the attention she got, or she just ignored it.

"So what is it like in the—our Cabin? Is everyone nice? Because I heard some stuff at dinner from some other people in the Hermes Cabin."

Silena scoffed, "Don't listen to anyone who tries to define Aphrodite and her children. I'd say the only mean girl is Drew and her followers, but I'm head counselor and she's not, so if she messes with you, you can come to me."

Rita had met Drew on her first day. She thought it was nice to comment on her muddy appearance and for the first time in a while, Rita felt the urge to punch her.

"Good to know."

"The Aphrodite Cabin is often misunderstood," Silena continued. "We are just like everyone else here in this camp. We all want to prove something to our godly parent. We all have a lot in common. Aphrodite isn't a weak goddess—she's the oldest in fact—she is just about spreading love and beauty which this world lacks. And not just fashion and makeup and stuff. We aren't stupid. Some are only slow because of their mortal parent and the way they were raised, it has nothing to do with Aphrodite. A lot of Aphrodite children that don't even know their half-bloods are famous. Motivational speakers, politics, feminists. Not just interior and fashion designers. Sure, we like to look cute and everything, and we like to set up dates for people and medal in their love lives, but that's because it adds to the peace we all want. But, finding the right person is an amazing feeling that everyone deserves. Like them for instance."

Silena gestured to a boy and a girl standing in the middle of the Camp, not too far from them, in a heated argument. The boy was Percy Jackson, she knew that much. He was the only guy in Cabin 3. The girl was the head counselor of the Athena Cabin. She didn't know her name, but Rita had always seen her leading her Cabin to the pavilion and she was always walking around with Chiron and/or surrounded by other counsellors.

"Aren't they cute together?" Silena cooed.

Rita frowned. "They are a couple?"

They did look good together. The way they contrasted was perfect. Percy's eyes were a beautiful shade of green, opposing Annabeth's grey ones. His skin was a little more tanner than hers, but they both looked like surfers. He was about an inch or two taller than her-height was a valued trait when pairing people. His raven hair was messy, like he just woke up and forgot to comb it, while her blonde curled, not to perfection but well enough.

But they didn't sound like a couple based off their word hacking at each other. Rita winced at some of the cusses.

"No," Silena sighed sadly. That was obvious enough.

"Not yet," Silena concluded.

Rita didn't think they got along. Percy was a child of Posiedon and Annabeth was a child of Athena. Their parents despised one another, or so she has learned in the Myth sessions she was scheduled to have.

"They are killing each other with words," Rita deadpanned.

Silena shrugged, but smiled nonetheless. "They're flirting."

Flirting?

Silent noticed Rita's confused state. "As children of Aphrodite, we can sense and manipulate the feelings of others. If you pay attention enough, you can pick up any sense of attraction or romantic feeling, and it's almost as if you feel it in yourself too. Like a love metal detector."

At first Rita thought Silena was just stretching it. But she felt waves of their emotions the more she watched them. The way Percy's eyes twinkled as they argued. The way Annabeth hid back a smirk whenever he spoke. The way she liked it when Annabeth called Percy's name and the way she liked it when Percy ran a hand through his hair because she wanted to do it. She could sense all of that.

Rita gasped. They weren't her emotions. They were Percy and Annabeth's.

Silent smirked and nudged Rita with her elbow. "You felt it, didn't you?" She could definitely see what Silena was saying.

She could see the beauty in their affection for one another. They weren't in love with one another yet, but it was as if they'd harbored a crush on one another for so long it started turning into love. Even though they were yelling at one another for Gods knows what, she sensed that they would end up laughing about it soon. They complimented each other's worst traits. Like…soulmates.

"Oh yeah, I see it." Rita nodded. "What's their story?"

Percy and Annabeth weren't gossiped about much, but only for their feats. Rita barely paid attention to it. She didn't know them or cared for anyone's business…until then.

Silent smiled even wider. "Those two are my OTP. I have a bucket list and third on it is to get them together before the end of this summer. Well, if we survive by the end of the summer."

Rita shuddered.

"They met four years ago. Percy came to Camp and after their first quest that year, they had been friends despite their parents hatred for one another. You know, that whole Poseidon verses Athena thing that goes way back into ancient times. They're like a modern day Romeo and Juliet. Anyway, they've been on three quests together, and even on one two winters ago, Percy snuck on someone else's quest to save her when she went missing."

"How valiant," Rita commented.

Silent agreed. "They are partners in battle. Because of the upcoming war, Everyone has been on edge with the planning and missions, so the arguing has barely ceased. It kind of sucks that it's taking them this long to date. They are really oblivious—Percy more so—and it's even worse now that he's been hanging around this mortal girl often. Annabeth's a jealous mess nowadays."

"How'd you know?"

"Besides Aphrodite's sixth sense, Annabeth and I are pretty close. She reluctantly came to me advice before."

"What did you tell her?"

"I told her to start small and go out, just the two of them somewhere and see where it takes them. It's better not to plan out certain things and just let it happen. Fate would know when to bring them together."

Rita understood that. If you tried to force something to happen, the least likely it would happen. "And then?"

"His school blew up and they went on a quest around the time of the Battle of the Labyrinth," Silena said nonchalantly, as if it were all in a day's work. "Now, I think I'll just push it and make Annabeth ask him to the Fourth of July Fireworks."

Percy and Annabeth both looked up simultaneously, now noticing that they had an audience. It wasn't just Rita and Silena, but other campers stopped for the entertainment. Their faces slowly turned red. Annabeth locked eyes were Silena and Rita.

"Just wave," Silena ordered while keeping an amused grin. Rita waved to the two. Annabeth narrowed her eyes at Silena, glanced at Percy and walked away. Her face was redder than before. Percy watched her as she left before heading in the direction of his own Cabin, a small smile lingering on his mouth.

They so, liked each other.

"Oh," Rita blew a piece of loose hair from her face. "Well, good luck to you in getting them together.

Silena turned around a started walking in the direction of the Cabins and Rita had no choice but to follow. "Well, now do you have more of a feel on love? Why you are…you?"

Rita smiled, the first smile she's formed since she came to the Camp. She believed what Silena says in seeing the beauty in something under appreciated. She wants the affection Percy and Annabeth have for one another. She wants everyone to have a piece of that.

"Yeah. Thanks."

Silena grinned proudly at Rita. "What are half-sisters for?"

Rita laughed. "So, tell me about number one and two on your bucket list."

Silena shrugged. "It's nothing special. Number two is just to befriend a kid from the Ares Cabin. I think I'm getting somewhere with Clarisse La Rue, their counselor."

"Why? Aren't they horrible, and mean?"

Silena frowned. "Not all of them. I want to prove that there is more to the each Cabin then most people believe. Starting with Clarisse. She's actually pretty cool."

Rita was astounded. Silena was the type to see the best in everyone. It was impressive and inspiring.

"Cool. And number one?"

Silena blushed even further. "Just know that the counselor of Cabin 9 is off limits."

Cabin 9 was the Hephaestus Cabin. They were a bunch of blacksmiths lead by this guy named Beckendorf. Why would the counselor be—Oh. Maybe Silena was taking her own advice and waiting for something to happen too.


End file.
